OK, but what about so-called "Christians" who are evil?

Yes, Northwest is right that evil has been done in the name of God or in the name of Christianity.

How can we explain this?

Well, it goes right back to the group number 2 above -- the people who believe that God exists, and yet still refuse to obey God.

Sometimes this evil has been done in ignorance. For instance, in the "Dark Ages" of Europe, when the Crusades occurred, most of the common people did not know how to read and write. When they went to church, the Bible was read in the Latin language, which most of them did not understand. So they had very fuzzy ideas about what Christianity was all about, and what the Bible really taught.

On the other hand, some evil has been done in the name of "Christianity" when the perpetrators knew very well what they were doing. They were going against the teachings of the Bible, even though they knew what the Bible taught.

Jesus made it very clear that our love for God is demonstrated by our obedience to Him and to the commands He has given to men. The Bible says that if we say we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

In other words, if a so-called Christian doesn't follow the laws of God -- the teachings of the Bible -- then he probably isn't a real Christian at all.

A very real judgement is reserved for these so-called Christians who cause unbelievers to stumble in their search for truth.

Originally posted by karenb at 2006-10-7 09:31
In other words, if a so-called Christian doesn't follow the laws of God -- the teachings of the Bible -- then he probably isn't a real Christian at all.
A very real judgement is reserved for these so-called Christians who cause unbelievers to stumble in their search for truth. ...

And now... the 'evil' Christian already came to China, since the colonization period till today the what so called "war against terror". All their main concern is increasing followers number - quantity, instead of improving the morality of the followers - quality.

If you consider yourself a decent Christian, what have you done to stop those 'evil' Christian deliberately using god's name with those killings, war and looting? I guess none. You still do what all Christian did since their early days... "spreading gospel" or increasing followers number. You are not concerned whether these followers will be 'evil' Christian or not... because they're already Christian after all, that's your ultimate goal. Am I right?

what have I done?

Originally posted by northwest at 2006-10-7 10:31
If you consider yourself a decent Christian, what have you done to stop those 'evil' Christian deliberately using god's name with those killings, war and looting? I guess none. You still do what all Christian did since their early days... "spreading gospel" or increasing followers number. You are not concerned whether these followers will be 'evil' Christian or not... because they're already Christian after all, that's your ultimate goal. Am I right?

1) "What have I done to stop those 'evil' Christians deliberately using god's name with those killings, war and looting?"

Well, Northwest, you will have to explain what you mean on this one. I'm a little unclear as to what lootings and killings you are referring to that are being done in this day and age by Christians in "God's name."

2) "You are not concerned whether these followers will be 'evil' Christian or not"

Now here you are dead wrong. The whole point of spreading the gospel (gospel means "good news") is to help people have a relationship with God. If one has a relationship with God, then he loves God, and wants to follow the commands of God. Thus, by increasing the number of people in a relationship with God, the end result are more people with high morality, which is good for any society.

Now if one is spreading the gospel, but only comes up with followers who "say" they believe in God, but don't demonstrate it through their actions, then the person who is spreading the gospel has failed in the task.

"some evil has been done in the name of "Christianity..." ??? ---- It is the LARGEST SCALE, most barbarous and frequently occured CRIMES which we human persons defined the ...

Well, now, Chineseyang, it's very easy to lob accusations, but you need to make yourself more clear on which crimes you are referring to. When you say "largest scale" that's pretty big, especially when you consider atrocities committed in the name of other religions (or non-religions) such as the Japanese atrocities in China, the atrocities of the Cultural Revolution, the (present day) enslavement of black Africans by Muslims, the Muslim against Muslim violence in the Middle East, the Jewish bombing of Lebanon, and so forth. Non of these barbarous crimes were committed by Christians.

It's also important to separate the actions of a certain government from the faith of individuals living within that country -- especially since various faiths are generally represented in any country. For instance, you are Australian. Does that mean that every time the Australian government does something, that we hold you personally accountable???